Five men, including his brother, were convicted for killing Macdonald Masumbuka, 22, who had albinism, in 2018, and planning to sell his body parts as good luck charms.
People with albinism have long been victimized by witchcraft rituals, whose practitioners wrongly believe that their body parts bring good luck.
The Malawi High Court sentenced the five men to life with hard labor.
According to the Daily Star, the victim was lured by his brother to the graveyard where he was murdered, telling him that he had found a woman for him to marry.
Afterward, Masumbuka was reported missing in the southern district. Investigators found his torso and head after a month; however, his limbs had all been removed. According to investigators, as soon as Masumbuka arrived at the graveyard, he was ambushed and murdered.
Betrayed by kin and people in position of trusts
Other people involved in the crime were a Catholic priest named Thomas Muhosha, a herbalist, a police officer, and two other men. They were all given a lesser sentence of a 30-year prison term because they were only involved in the sales of Masumbuka's body parts.
Muhosha was suspended from the priesthood by the Catholic Church in Malawi in 2018 when his involvement became public.
Judge Dorothy NyaKaunda said that in coming up with the sentencing, she considered that Masumbuka was betrayed by the people close to him, his family. The judge also noted how the murder was meticulously planned and the violence in the manner of his death.
"MacDonald was betrayed by those he had trusted in, namely the brother, the priest, the policeman, and the clinical officer," Malawi's public prosecutions director Steve Kayuni pointed out. "These are positions of trust," he added.
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People with albinism are persecuted due to wrong belief
People with albinism have been the target of killings as people believe that they bring a certain charm and healing. Witch doctors have promulgated that their body parts are magical, which serves as their reason for using them in their rituals. Others are convinced that possessing their body parts could transmit their magical powers.
Aside from that, people with this rare kind of skin condition are murdered, under the impression they could cure one's sickness. Some are also raped because there is also the belief that it can cure AIDS.
However, there are also some who see people with albinism as cursed, and this causes them more misery as they are butchered to get rid of bad luck.
Albinism is a hereditary genetic condition that causes the total absence of pigmentation in the skin, hair, and eyes; thus, their appearance.
